High cholesterol - need your hints and tips on how to lower it

[feetheart]

Following a GP health check yesterday DH was found to have a very high cholesterol level. We have the leaflets but would like some hints and tips from real people please.

Over to you, oh wise Mumsnetters.........

Other than statins, which my dh takes for otherwise very high (genetic) cholesterol...

Daily Benecol drinks. They really do work.

Diet low in saturated fats, high in veggies, porridge (oats), 'good' cholesterol eg oily fish.

Excercise.

I lowered mine from 6 to 5 in three months, by taking daily Benecol drinks and eating no/fewer puds/biscuits/cheese and more oily fish.

But for 'very high' cholesterol, personally I would ask for statins.

Bencol drink daily.

Increase dietary intake of oats (eg. Porridge) and pulses- beans, lentils, peas as they all contain soluble fibre.

If you use any oil in cooking go for olive oil or rapeseed oil as they are higher in monounsaturated fats (usually the cheap, basic vegetable oil in a supermarket is rapeseed oil, check the labels).

Eat leaner cuts of meat, and less of it. Add fish, especially oily fish, to your diet.

Avoid foods with high saturated fat content or trans fats.

Eat lots of veggies.

Increase activity and reduce alcohol intake. If he's a smoker he should quit.

sadly some people are not able to reduce their cholesterol naturally, and so medication may become necessary. Good luck.

Hi

I would take this seriously and get a copy of 'The Great Cholesterol Myth' by Dr Steven Sinatra from the library and research fully the differing sides of the cholesterol debate.

Start with some easies - the website www.drsinatra.com has masses of stuff. Increase exercise, stop any smoking outright (for heart health), reduce all sugar going in such as sugar in tea, sugary snacks, ice cream, fizzy drinks and lower intake of alcohol. Not all these things are necessarily about lowering cholesterol but they all help lower inflammation inside you (yikes!) and increase your heart health.

Good luck, any changes like these, if all are impossible, would be good!

Stop eating meat. Eat lots of vegetables, pulses, soya, quinoa, fruit etc. Lose weight. Exercise. Cut down on saturated fats. Use Benecol spread instead of butter.

Thank you everyone, I knew I could count on you lot.
Lots of good tips, some of which we knew but not others.

DD (10) is delighted that we will have to eat more fish - the salmon, new potatoes, salad and salsa went down well with everyone tonight which is a bit of a bonus :)

Anyone else got anything to add?

My husband worked with scaffolders who would eat a full breakfast at the site canteen every day to keep them going.

When health checks were introduced these guys had the lowest cholesterol of anyone. Which shows the power of physical activity!

Avocado has a lot of mono-unsaturated fat, like olive oil, which is supposed to help.